Can Max Verstappen REALLY win the 2025 title? | P1 Live in Austin

Hello, everybody. Hi, welcome. How's it going? We've got a few things to talk about, haven't we, Tommy?

Just a bit. Yeah, nothing's happened in the last hour to this class.

Yeah, crazy. Did that really just happen? Right, let's sit down. So my name's Matt and this is Tommy.

You may well have heard of us. We have a podcast called P1 with Matt and Tommy.

We love talking about Formula One. I'm glad at least some of you know who we are, which is always a relief.

Always good, yeah. But we've got a lot to chat about today, haven't we, Tommy?

We absolutely have, yeah. An insane sprints just happened. And you never know with the sprint

how it's going to go, how much we'll have to talk about, but quite a few things to talk about.

Yes, but before we do that, I just want to say thank you so much for all of you joining us here live.

At the AT&T Garage at Distribution Hall in downtown Austin. So exciting to be here.

So much better than my bedroom, I tell you that. We're so happy to be here with our friends at AT&T,

sponsor of the Oracle Red Bull Racing Team at this amazing space. We've got loads to get into,

as we mentioned, and we'll be coming to you later for a Q&A as well, so get thinking of your

questions. Well, you can ask, of course, the F1 Oracle, Tom Bellingham, all of your burning

questions, as well as me, if you want to ask anything. Plus, we'll be joined later by a US

racing legend for a chat as well. But before we get into that, as we said, the sprint race,

goodness gracious me. Yeah, that card did pretty well, didn't it? Max Verstappen,

just on the side. Tommy, you, of course, very happy about that as well.

Absolutely, yeah. I mean, what an insane start. You know, the sprint race, as I said,

beforehand, it's a very short race. Sometimes we can have sprints where not a huge amount

happens. The points are very close, so you don't normally tend to get big point swings in things.

But instead, we got the two McLarens scoring nothing, and Max scoring maximum points.

Which is only eight, sadly, for you, because of sprint, but a lot more than we were all

expecting. And it's because of a certain incident that happened at turn one, lap one.

And I can't believe I've just watched that, to be honest with you. We were live streaming in a

room just over there screaming, absolutely screaming our lungs out, because we couldn't

believe it. Because Hülkenberg was like, I'm going to break quite late here. And it's funny,

I think he sells his merchandise on Max Verstappen's website. So make of that what you will.

I think Hülkenberg is the biggest Max Verstappen fan, clearly, even more than me.

And just thought, look, this is for Max. No, the nature of turn one is such a difficult corner,

because they do just bottleneck into that corner. It's so unique. I love the circuit in general.

Cota is an incredible track, one of the best on the calendar, if not, it is genuinely up there

as one of the top two or three now. And the way they kind of funnel into that first turn,

there's always going to be incidents, it's always going to be hard how you position your car,

which lines do you take? And as we saw there, you know, Oscar Piastri,

Nico Hülkenberg, the way you take different lines through that corner,

it's just about disaster. Meanwhile, of course, Max Verstappen capitalised massively.

55 points the gap now, with still six races to go and two sprints. Now we've got a live audience

right now by way of cheer. Do you think Max can do it now? 55 points. So Tommy is ever the pessimist.

Max could be leading by 50 points, but I'm not sure about it, mate. I just can't see it.

This is now at a point where you go, this doesn't require too many more miracles

to potentially happen. It's insane. For concerts, we did some live shows and we did a live show

in the Netherlands during the summer break, and Max was obviously at that point nearly 100

points behind. And we did the same there where we asked, who believes Max can still do it?

Complete silence. And that was the Netherlands and, you know, Max's home country. No one believed

that he had a prayer. It was over. There's absolutely no chance. And what was that? Four races ago,

and it's now nearly half that deficit already, with six to go. It's absolutely insane what

is happening right now. It's unbelievable to think that he was nearly 100 points behind.

There's no way on earth he could possibly do it. And McLaren have been saying, you know, yeah,

Max has an opportunity. We do need to take this seriously. That was when he was

70, 80 points behind. It's now 55. I'm seeing a glimmer in your eyes here, Tommy. Is that

belief? Is that what I see? It is belief. I know. The percentage is just going up more and more

by every incident, but it's insane. It's insane. The thing is though, like,

yes, I do believe I think probably it's more possible than you do. But at the same time,

it requires a perfect end to the season for Max. He can't have any kind of issue. It needs to be

wins. It needs to be beating the McLarens every single time. He can't even just finish third

behind the two McLarens, in my opinion, because that's too big of a swing with so little races

left. But it's quite clear that Red Bull have continued to upgrade this car late into the

season and it's paid massive dividends with the run of form he's currently on.

Yeah, it's insane because I think many other drivers, you wouldn't give them a prayer at all.

Even if they were doing what Max did now, you think it's just too much. So the fact that

it's even being spoken about shows what a driver Max has been and he has had that

inevitability over the last few years. You look at the kind of hardships they've had. Of course,

they went on that amazing run in 2023, where he was winning almost every single Grand Prix.

But you look at last year, it looked like they had a great start to the season,

but then we're struggling towards the end. And then he goes and pulls that amazing result

in Brazil, where of course he won from 17th. And it's one of those where you just,

it's moments like that where you just can't count them out.

You certainly can't. So you're the big, big Max Verstappen fan. I'm sort of a newly recruited

Max Verstappen fan because I want to see something crazy happen come the end of the season.

What would you say your highlights have been, Tommy, considering you've been locked in since

day one of this season? Highlights? Well, I mean, his first race for Red Bull Racing was

this year. I didn't mean the whole of his career. We haven't got that much time.

Yeah, very true. This year, I think the one that really stands out is the move at turn one at

Imola. That was just unbelievable to witness. I don't think anyone, we were just taking,

just took our breath away. No one was expecting it. It wasn't like he was even remotely side

by side. And in fact, he was about to go down to third position. And for him to

outbreak George Russell and then go round the outside of Oscar Piazzari,

it was one of the most unbelievable starts I've ever seen. And I've been watching Formula One

since I was a child, which was a very long time ago as well, as much as people think

you're 20 years old. Yeah, that for sure is my moment that just sticks in my mind because

it was like, oh, he's got P2. And then he just kept going and risked it for a chocolate biscuit.

And, you know, Max likes to put it to the absolute limit. And that was it. That was just such a

perfect move. Suzuki as well, I think, comes to mind of like taking it to McLaren's that were

quicker. I still think even though I saw a graphic this weekend saying that Red Bull is now

the quickest car on paper, I still think Max is bringing something very special out of that

car at the moment where he feels comfortable, but he's also moaning over the radio. There's still

time to be found. There is. And it is about fine tuning and that something Max has always been

really good at is getting that car in that window that he wants. Because the start of the season,

it wasn't looking good for Red Bull at all. They were struggling quite a lot. Even though

Max got that P2 in the first race of the season, I think that was mainly due to

the weather. And we all know how good Max has happened is in wet conditions. But

yeah, they went to Japan and you thought this shouldn't be, you know, they weren't in a position

to be winning races at that stage of the season, puts it on pole position. And when it's a track

that's very difficult to overtake led the way. And yeah, he's had a surprising amount of wins

this year. And they have really found something in these last few races.

How many points does he need to be behind for you to actually just soak it up and believe?

Like, when do we lose pessimistic Tommy and get, all right, Max can win this now.

It depends how many races are left, obviously. No, no, no. Give me an answer. How many

points? That's all I want. How many points? Well, if there's more than,

if he gets to within a win, obviously, even going into the last race, there's a chance.

So, you know, I guess 25 is the magic number of, okay, he's really there. But he kind of almost

needs to do that with a couple of races to go rather than going into the final one and just

obviously hoping for a McLaren DNF. So, yeah, he's still got a way to go. But

as we mentioned, you know, what feels like a few weeks ago, we're talking about,

there's absolutely no hope and he's 90 odd, nearly 100 points behind. And here we are now going,

well, it's actually 55, which is, you know, just over two wins now.

He's adding the spice to this championship that is absolutely needed. Like, I've struggled

to fully emotionally invest in this championship. But now that Max was like, all right,

I'll try now then and was just, you know, starts winning left, right and center.

It's, it's awesome to see. And I think that, you know, you say within a win, you didn't

still didn't really answer my question of how many points you said within a win. That's when

you kind of believe. But, you know, if we, I know we're doing a lot of ifs at the moment,

aren't we? But if he wins every race, he wins Austin, you know, it's at least a seven points

wing is then 48 points with five races to go and two sprints. You were 7% sure before after the sprint

today, what percent would you be? If that happened, I'd be like, it would be more like 15%. Oh, wow,

that's a big jump. Wow. Because it would feel like he's, he's, he's got, you know,

within those couple of wins, it still needs some good fortune. But as we've seen today,

anything, anything can happen. I mean, you kind of thought after Baku, there's going to be no more,

you thought, oh, well, it's, it's not really going to happen because he needs more

incidents. And it just shows that anything can happen. And of course, you're going to have that

dynamic where, you know, the, the position that Red Bull are in to back Max for the

championship, they can, you know, Max can like run his own race and everything. Whereas the

McLarons are both kind of going for glory. So it's, it's how they position it.

Now, this is awesome to be here. It's probably dreamy for you, mate. I mean,

look at the little backdrop that AT&T have sorted out for us. You've got, you've got the Max car

over there, literally the show car behind the cameras as well. Like, you must be living

the dream with the, with the momentum that's currently happening for Max as well.

Yeah. I mean, we, we do most of our podcasts from, from home. And I do have a Max

to stop a model car, but it's not, it's not one to one scale. So it's very cool to be here in this

place. It's an awesome, awesome venue. Now, I guess finally, before we, we move on to our

American legend that's coming on the podcast. What are our expectations for the team next year?

We're getting very excited about Max's chance, an outside shot of the championship.

Next year is such a huge shakeup in the regulations. Had a lot of drivers, including Max

himself questioning whether these regs are even going to work. Is Red Bull going to be right

up there again? Max has decided to stay with Red Bull. So clearly there is something there that he

knows or believes in when the shakeup happens. Yeah. It's going to be a huge shakeup. Obviously,

you know, we've, we've been in this regulation change since 2022. Max has won,

and Red Bull have won an enormous number of races to the point where I've lost count.

It's been that many races. And that's going to be the big, the big thing that when we go into

a new regulation change, can they stay in that position? Can they, can they keep getting wins?

And of course they're going to have, you know, a new engine supplier as well. It throws a lot

of things into the mix, but we've already seen that team go from 2021 and winning the world

championship. And that was a completely different regulation going into the new era,

thinking, you know, can they deliver again and being more dominant? So, you know, there's every

chance they've got, you know, they are a winning team. They've won multiple world championships,

not just in recent times with Sebastian Vettel as well back in the early 2010. So

there is an opportunity, absolutely. And it's going to be fascinating to see how that

playing field for sure switches, because it could be massive. It could look like a completely

different sport any year's time. It could be massive. Now, Tommy, it's been absolutely awesome

to, you know, hear from you, but now we're actually going to get someone involved that

has will knowledge rather than just us two that pretends. So it's time to welcome our special

guest for today's episode. And if you want to know more about just about every racing

series on the planet, you're in luck. Today's guest entered 28 Grand Prix races for Torrosso

throughout 2006 and 2007 and was one of Rebels first junior drivers to reach Formula One.

He has also won four consecutive Global Rally Cross Championships. There's a lot of

achievements here and has also raced in NASCAR and Formula E. He's now a Red Bull athlete,

and you'll probably find him somewhere around the world driving a rally car insanely quickly.

It's Scott Speed.

Welcome, Scott. Thankfully, we've got someone who actually knows what they're talking about

on the podcast. Thank you for coming on.

Oh, my pleasure. Thanks for having me. I was catching up on some of your podcasts before

I came on here. You guys got such great energy. You guys can tell that you really love the sport.

Yeah, what we wake up in lack of knowledge we put with our enthusiasm. So thank you so much

for coming on. We've got some questions for you, which both myself and Tommy are

going to go through. I hope you're ready for that. So the first one I'd love to

get a bit of an understanding of us. What role did racing play in your early life?

Well, a massive role, probably the biggest role. I like to say that I got into go-kart and started

racing when I was 10, but the truth is it started so much before that. When I was three years

old, I remember going to the go-kart track, and my dad was racing go-karts and he was

really good. He was a national champion. So for me, since I was three years old, I always

had this attachment and identity to racing, and that's what my dad did. And I think for me

anyways, like I grew up and I wanted to make my dad proud, right? And I know how much he loved

racing, and he was a huge Michael Schumacher fan. We'd wake up in the middle of the night and watch

Formula One. This all happened before I ever sat in a race car. And then I got this chance when

I was 10 years old to drive a go-kart for the first time, and the first time I sat in,

and I was really quick. And I thought, gosh, I'm just really talented at this,

which was honestly in hindsight like a really bad way to think about it, because the reality

was, like I was playing video games, I was watching racing so much from such an early age,

it's just what I was into. And you know, from age 11 to 12, I got enough success that, okay,

it was very clear from 11 years old, I stopped playing all other sports, it was just racing,

it wasn't going to high school parties, it wasn't going, I missed all the proms and all the

formals, and it was, I was going on every weekend, which was tough as a kid because I didn't

really have, I didn't really connect with kids through school, but I had my racing community.

And that's really what, you know, how I grew up.

That's funny, you mentioned three years old, because Tommy, your daughter is three years

old, so when does Grace get into her first go-kart?

Absolutely, yeah. Well, hearing that, I need to start getting into karting, don't I?

So Scott, you were part of an American driver's search with Red Bull in the early 2000s.

How important do you think it is for the sport to, you know, look at young kids and

help them raise that sponsorship money? Well, I think giving opportunities great,

but I also think that, you know, if you're a young kid and your dream is Formula One,

and that's what you really want, then the only thing standing between you and that is time.

And I just really believe that if you really want something bad enough and you put the work in,

you're going to eventually find a way. The cool thing about motor racing is it's not like

football where there's like a very specific path to getting to the NFL, you know, racing in general

is so unique in that way that there's not a draft. You can find talent from all over the world and

so many cultures. And specifically in Formula One, with all of the different teams and cultures

involved, it really makes it a special form of motor racing. So, you know, obviously for me,

the Red Bull driver's search that I was a part of was a life-changing experience. It gave me

the opportunity to get here. And what was also unique about that was that, you know, the whole goal

behind that was to build an American Formula One team in general. So, you know, they had bought

Jaguar, they were going to go and build with Ford, and it was going to all be this American thing

that ended up falling apart by the time I got there. And I ended up just kind of slotting in

as part of the Red Bull junior team. But the goal at the beginning was to create this

American Formula One team. So to see the Ford's going to come back and link up,

you know, after so many years with Red Bull, it's kind of cool to see. And yeah, fun to at least

have that opportunity with them. Now, something when we're lucky enough to have

people on the podcast that have actually experienced the Formula One race, which is rare,

I love to hear the story and sort of the emotions of being on the grid. So for you,

Bahrain 2006, first time on the grid, put us in the helmet. What were the thoughts

and the feelings as the Red Lights were coming on? Yeah, well, not looking back on it now after,

you know, sort of setting psychology for five years, not good ones. You know, my honestly,

I think the way I really looked at it at the time was just don't mess up.

And that's a bad place to be. But it was really special. You know, obviously the transition

from Formula Two to Formula One was a really, really big one. It's very different to

to compete on that stage. You know, Formula One is a huge stage with so many eyeballs. And

it's difficult. It's really difficult. It's difficult because, you know, for the first

time in most people's racing career, they're not in the same car as everybody else, right?

And there's lots of challenges. And then obviously the cars are so fast, they're

very, very difficult to drive. You know, driving a car on the edge, you know, fundamentally

what you do as a driver is no different in a go-kart than a Formula One car. But that

becomes increasingly difficult when the grip level, you know, is now four and a half Gs through the

corner versus, you know, maybe like a go-kart, which one and a half or two. So it does become

exponentially difficult as you go up there. And then obviously the stakes are super high. You

don't get a lot of practice. You show up and you have to be ready to go now. And we didn't

really have simulators back then. So you just kind of showed up and and winged it.

You mentioned about, you know, your dad being being to Michael Schumacher and stuff.

Obviously, you know, he was racing that time. How was that for you and also your dad to, you know,

race against someone like that? And him, you know, getting you into racing and him being a

Schumacher fan and then him watching you race against Schumacher be on that same starting grid.

Yeah, I can tell you, it was so surreal to be in my first driver's meeting with Michael and

then to just realize, I mean, this is the guy that I watch and idolize as a kid. And then

then to be in the same driver's meeting as him was super special. And honestly, looking back on

it was really cool because, you know, look, Michael was great. He was an innovator and how

far he pushed the limit was it was incredible. To me, I didn't I didn't understand how someone

could work so hard for it. When the way I looked at it, I didn't feel like I had a lot of control,

you know, with the with the cars, you know, if, you know, whether or not we got a new floor

a new front wing, I to me, I felt like that was whether or not we were going to do good or

not. I didn't really take a lot of responsibility in myself and trying to increase my ability to

drive better. Right. I thought that that was just like a given. You know, this is how good I am.

This is how good I'm always going to be. Let's see how far I can make it. Oh, I made it to

Formula One. I'm pretty good. The idea of getting better and improving, I didn't really

understand until much later in life. So it was really cool. This I actually got to see

what that was like at such a high level in Michael and how much he pushed and how much he

constantly grew and innovated through his career. It's so cool to hear because obviously I'm a

big Michael Schumacher fan boy. I have been since I was two years old and my dad's always been like,

no, you should support Damon Hill. No, no, those colors don't run. Absolutely. So you had to

battle some difficult health problems through your young racing career. How did you kind of overcome

those adversities? Yeah, honestly, it's going to sound crazy. But you know, at one point my health

was really bad. I had very low blood. I had Ulcerative Colitis. But realistically, for my

racing career, I didn't it's crazy to say because at that time, like when I won my championships

in Formula Renault, I was the sickest I've been in my life. Like so for me, it didn't really,

it was just a piece of life that was happening that I didn't really pay too much attention to.

Eventually, like I had some amazing support from Red Bull. I moved to Austria and they got me to see

the best doctors and I worked through it. But for me, I was so focused on racing. It was just

something that was happening in the background. So it was like impactful in some sense. But for

me, like I was so focused on the racing and winning races that, you know, what was happening

in my body was just kind of like over here. So how would you look back at your sort of

F1 career now? In the past, you've said that you found it challenging to be winning races

all through your junior career. Then you get to F1 and you're fighting towards the back.

Like how was that? How do you look back on your time?

Oh man, just I look back with so much gratitude. You know, I was given such amazing opportunities

and I was around such amazing people. You know, at that time when we were there,

I'm thinking of the Red Bull Junior team originally in Austria, you know where there

was guys like Sebastian Boemi and Fettle and there's just so many of us that were,

you know, in the same area at the same time growing and chasing our racing careers,

which is just such an amazing environment. Red Bull had done so much for us with their

training center and the people that were there trying to help. It really was a great launch

pad into motor racing, something that obviously looking back, I could have taken so much more

advantage of that I know now. But I'm still so grateful for the opportunities and the

lessons that I've learned from that. And you know, I got to travel the world and see some

amazing places and be around a lot of really high performing people and forever grateful for that.

You mentioned obviously about Formula One, but you've raced, you know, it's so many different

series. How has it been, you know, jumping from different cars you've raced in

in rallycross and how's it compared to the Formula One and the different series you're doing?

Well, my favorite analogy is, you know, have you seen Days of Thunder?

You've seen Days of Thunder. I lived, I really fully lived Cold Trickle without the wins at the end

because I came over from F1 and I was just super arrogant. I mean, I'm one of the best in the

world of racing. I come to America and watch these NASCAR guys. It's going to be easy.

And really early, I had speed. I remember my very first ever cup test at Charlotte. I was

second fastest. The only guy that was faster than me was Jeff Gordon. And I'm like, it's cake,

no problem. And I got out to my very first cup race and I finished like a lap down in like 30th

and it was literally like, all right, you got speed. Let's see how you do with 35 other guys

around you. And that was the big piece that was different about NASCAR. I always could drive fast,

but the racing aspect and how dynamic NASCAR races are, how dynamic racing is on an oval with

the air is something that was so new to me. And I never, it took a long time to get used to that

and to adapt to those type of cars, but an incredible journey nonetheless. I,

you know, I now have a great home in Charlotte, North Carolina, which, you know, the unique

thing about NASCAR racing is a lot of the, all the teams and drivers all live kind of

within 20 square miles. So like there's a few towns where we live where there's just so much

people within motor racing here in America. And that's a pretty cool place to live.

So not only do you drive loads of cars, but you're also now a coach as well at Wise Optimization,

Optimization, sorry, which has coached several championship winning NASCAR drivers.

How do you actually go about coaching? I don't like that. I don't like the actual use the

use the word coach. I think, you know, I help, I help racing drivers optimize their

performance and achieve their goals, whatever that is. And I think that starts with

understanding, you know, not only what the driver wants, but what they're feeling and what

they're seeing because, you know, the thing about racing is, you know, they're, everybody's

experiencing that car from their perspective, right? They're, they're feeling the car their way,

where they're looking, what they're thinking about is all individuals. So anybody can look

at two drivers date and say, okay, well, you need to break later here. You need to go faster

here. But like what that actually means to the person, how you actually get them to

achieve that is a very different thing. And I'll tell you a quick story. When I,

about five years ago, I broke my back in a rallycross accident and I got to go visit a

go-kart race with my dad and my brother who's got a really successful karting team. And I was helping

one of the young drivers there and he ended up winning his first ever big national race that

weekend. And I tell you the joy and the energy I got from helping this kid like achieve it,

you know, his goal was so much more impactful for me than any race I have ever won

or any achievement I've ever had in motor racing. So I knew right then, like,

this is the path I want to go. And it just so happens that my best friend from California,

his name's Josh Wise, he had just, he had like three years earlier started coaching and going

back to school for psychology and helping to develop some NASCAR drivers, which is a very

bold move for an ex-race car driver because it's, it's, there's not really a company or

program that's done what we're doing before. So he really started from scratch what this,

what this program is. And it started with just a, an idea of like, we want to help drivers, you

know, improve and chase their dreams. And then, okay, not now, how do we do that? And I learned

really quickly that I was not equipped to do that at all. And so it became this really

amazing journey through life of studying psychology and communication and understanding

how to really impact someone, which is not only helped me obviously impact these kids,

but it's also helped me as a father, as a husband, as a human. And it's been some of the,

the most rewarding work I've done in my life and something I'm super proud of.

Question about F1 this year. Do you think Max can do it?

I sure hope so. Look, I'm a fan of a great story and I love, I love the challenge and

the resilience the team and everybody has shown to fight back and to continue to, to work hard

at, you know, on their cars. F1 is an incredibly difficult sport. I really withhold judgment or

opinion on how things are going because I've been on the inside and I know the big delta of

information from what's happening inside the team to what everybody's talking about. And it is

normally very large, so I won't speculate that I know what is going on at all. But it is,

it sure is a cool story that, you know, someone as great as Max is obviously is having to fight

through this, this crazy adversity this year to hopefully bring home another championship for

Red Bull. So in short, Scott says yes, he believes, he believes. Thank you so much, Scott, for coming

and joining us. Thanks so much for having me, guys. Thank you. Nice to meet you guys.

Okay, right. Big thanks to Scott Speed for joining us. Now, before we get in today's Q&A,

we're the live audience, you can get involved. Let's hear from our sponsors AT&T,

who made all of this possible? All right, Tommy, here's one for you. It's the classic F1 debate.

Drivers are absolutely obsessed with that one blistering qualifying lap, but you always hear

the engineers, the race strategists, say that championships are one on consistency. So what's

your take? Is it about being the fastest or the most reliable? Reliability, 100%. That's what

gets you the championship trophy at the end of the day. I mean, look at Lewis Hamilton

at Malaysia in 2016. Absolutely heartbreaking. The famous, oh no, no on the radio.

Exactly. He was cruising to the win, about to take the championship lead, 16 laps to go,

and then bang, engine goes up in flames. And that was it, championship basically over,

all just because of one unreliable part. The sport is absolutely brutal. And you know,

it's the same in everyday life as well, isn't it? Well, maybe not with flames coming out

the back of your car, but if your internet connection drops right in the middle of a stream,

like for us, I mean, I've had that literally happen before, or a big meeting, it feels like

an engine failure on the final laps. And that's why I was looking into this AT&T guarantee.

And it's fascinating. It's dead simple. If a network outage causes your connection to drop,

they don't wait for you to call. They automatically credit your account for a full

day of service. It's guaranteed. So you don't have to chase them down?

No chasing, no sitting on hold, no stress. It's just handled because they know your time

is valuable. Our time is valuable, Tommy. It's done. If only Lewis had an AT&T guarantee for that

race. And also teams like Oracle Red Bull Racing are actually getting guaranteed levels of support

in other ways. We all know F1 is the most technologically advanced sport on the planet.

And a massive reason for Red Bull's dominance is that AT&T is basically their rapid response

unit. See, only 60 people from the 800 person Oracle Red Bull Racing team are actually allowed

at the track. So AT&T's connectivity allows them to beam information from over 750 sensors on the

car in virtually real time back to the factory at Milton Keynes. It's like having the entire

engineering team plugged into the car from across the globe. Hold on. So you're telling

me they're beaming live data from a race in say Austin, Texas, all the way back to the

factory in the UK in a real time. That's got to be like 5,000 miles.

Exactly. And while the car is doing 200 miles per hour, they're handling a thousand data points

per second. Every team is pushing AI data and simulations, but none of that matters

if you can't trust the connection on race day. And through the AT&T guarantee, they're

proving their innovation is trustworthy by holding themselves to that same standard as the Oracle

Red Bull Racing team. Yeah, there's a proper partnership between AT&T and Oracle Red Bull Racing.

It's not just a logo slapped on the side of the car. They're genuinely integrated into the

race operations. And they're thinking about the fans too because even if you're not trackside,

if you're at home streaming the race like us, AT&T's whole promise is that their network

is so reliable you won't miss the clutch moment. You won't miss the final lap overtake or

the controversial strategy call because your stream starts buffering.

Bold moves for a sport built on massive moments. That's the AT&T guarantee.

This branded segment was brought to you by AT&T. Right, thanks everybody for joining us here today

at the AT&T garage here in downtown Austin and for the awesome Scott Speed who has just left.

Now we've got a lovely audience with us. A lot of clapping. I'm enjoying it

and it's time to hear from you. First question, no pressure.

Okay, so I'm relatively new to F1. Tell us your name first.

I'm Adam. Lovely to meet you. So I haven't got to see too much

wheel-to-wheel racing in my F1 watching life. Would you rather a crash tomorrow like today,

max wins 25 points? Or would you rather see Max, Oscar and Lando fighting for the win on the

last lap? They can do that in Abu Dhabi when they're all level on points.

Well, I guess it depends what brain you're using, right? So for me, I would obviously love to see

all three battling to the last lap because from an entertainment perspective,

that's what we all want to see. However, Tommy here wants a 25 point swing

and he's not going to get that if it's first, second and third all fighting.

So I guess from a championship context, you'd want a 25 point swing for Max,

but you may well get a rather dull race tomorrow should today happen tomorrow. So for me,

look, Max has had a big point swing today. He doesn't need a massive one tomorrow.

I want to see a good race. I think Cota deserves a good race. It's such an awesome track. It's

maybe one of my favorites now. So I think I'd choose option one. You'll probably choose option two.

Yeah, I'd choose option two just for the championship to close up.

But I do get it because you want to see good races as well. There's always that kind of mix of

in Formula One, you sometimes you can have great races, but there's no championship fight,

and then it can also flip the other way. You don't always get your way of having every perfect

scenario of an amazing championship fight and an amazing season because we can always want even

more. Say, look, if he can close in again, I think it will make the final races even more exciting,

but I do want to see a good race tomorrow. That's the PR answer right there from Tommy. We know

exactly what he wants. He just doesn't want to say it down the mic. Thank you for your question.

Right, next up. Here we go. What's your name? What's your question? Hello, my name is Rajiv,

and I have two questions. Back at the queue after the first one.

How do you think Papaya Rules is going to shape up after the sprint, and how much credit do you give

Lauren McKee's for the turnaround? Okay, you can do question number two. I'll do question number one.

Papaya Rules, I mean, I don't think anything will have changed after the sprint because as

much as Oscar did in theory take out Lando Norris, it's not exactly his fault. Obviously,

the whole chat this weekend has been repercussions, this repercussions, that which has been

utterly boring if I'm being completely honest with you. I just want to see them race on track.

The fact that Lando was even remotely sort of, I know that of course, Oscar had his right to be

like feeling aggrieved after Singapore, but then to come into the next race with all of this,

oh, slap on the wrist here, slap on the wrist there. It's just, I'm just so sick of it. I

want Papaya Rules to be put in the bin and to just let them fight for the championship now.

They've got the constructors. So that's my thought on that one.

I mean, yeah, he's done a fantastic job. He's come in. I think the team harmony has been great

and there's probably something that's helped the team push forward. And he's come in. I don't

think it can be coincidental that they've turned their performance around. Max is winning races.

He seems happier. And yeah, he deserves a huge amount of credit. I think it's an amazing job.

And he knows a lot of wheel because he was an engineer. So clearly that is the

trend that we're going with with James Vowles as well and things like that. So thank you for your

questions. Thank you. All right. Very cheeky. Next question, please. McLaren. How are you feeling,

sir? First and foremost, that's my question to you. I got to say, Lando has to be champion.

So hoping for an Oscar DNF. Okay. But I have a Ferrari question for you, Matt.

For a shock. If let's say if Charles wants to leave Ferrari after 26,

what team would you like to see him go to? And let's say if he wants to go to McLaren,

would you rather have Lando or Oscar be his teammate? That's a good question.

If Charles was to leave at the end of 26. Yes, just based on the new regulations. If he was to

leave, I'd like him to go wherever the fastest car is. Ideally, that would be a good start

because we don't know with the new regulations. I think that how I see the story out going is

that Charles Leclerc, I believe, is becoming very sick and tired of seeing all of his competitors,

drivers he's grown up racing, winning races, challenging for championships. If we get to

next year and Ferrari are fourth fastest again, I do genuinely think he will leave the year

after. I'm almost convinced that he will try and find something better. But the thing is,

if Ferrari make a second to third fastest car, which I know they probably will,

there's just that little bit of hope, isn't there, to win a championship with Ferrari,

it'll be like, all right, one more year, one more year after that. And who would I like

him to go up against? I would like Charles Leclerc to go up against Lando.

Interesting. Yeah, I think you're right that Charles, if Ferrari don't deliver the car,

he does need to move on, he needs a new lease of life. We've seen that when drivers have moved

teams, they can elevate themselves more because at the moment, yeah, it must be so frustrating for

him to watch the drivers that he's done a great job. And me, really frustrating for me.

Because we know he's a better driver than what his performances can do because you're only

limited to your machinery and then the driver can obviously elevate that bit more.

And I see some Ferrari tops in the building this evening. I mean, you would, I'm not sure

if that is actually the emotions you're feeling at the moment. But yeah, I see some Ferrari fans

back there as well. Okay, thank you for your question, my friend. Let's go to the next one.

Sparkly top, here we go. Thank you. I actually came here to ask about fashion. So my name is

Emma. And though this is not a fashion podcast, beyond being everybody's favorite track on

the calendar, it seems like the entire paddock just has a blast coming here. They go for the boots,

they go for the hats. They go for the new livery. So my question is there was some discussion of a

hat. And I wanted to know, did Tommy bring his hat and what will your outfits be for tomorrow?

Are you wearing an outfit tomorrow? Am I wearing an outfit tomorrow? I think you wear an outfit

tomorrow evening when Max wins and gets another 25 point swing. I think it'll be a very naughty

outfit, to be honest with you. I mean, if that's the case, I've strangely and maybe regrettably

promised that I'll get a Max or something tattoo if he does somehow win this championship.

So if it is another 25 points, we do walk past a tattoo parlor on the way home.

Are you going to preload it? You're going to have to. It's another 25 points swing then.

Well, then you have to be 100% certain. You can't get a tattoo for, and then he

doesn't win it. Yeah, true. But the cowboy hat, is there one? Do you have a cowboy hat?

I don't have a cowboy hat. No, no. We came last year and got one, but I don't have it with me.

Didn't have enough room in the case, so. Thank you so much. That was a mistake,

but otherwise, looking forward to the tattoo. Thank you. Thank you so much. Next question,

please. Hi guys, my name is Sophia. Thanks for coming. Truly enjoyed the conversation,

and thanks to AT&T for bringing you guys out. Look at this. She's doing my job.

Big shout out to A and C and C. Thank you. P1, Turn 1 are the reasons that I watch racing.

We were all glued to the television. You know, you guys said you were, but what do you think

it's going to take to win this championship? Is it going to be about speed, precision,

reliability? Unpredictable moments can happen all the time. We'd love to hear what you think

is going to be the defining factor for a championship. Well, we've watched Formula

1 for so long now, Tommy. We've probably seen all of the things she just listed as reasons.

Like sometimes it does come down to luck and reliability. I think when it's a three-way fight,

it's more about the consistency of the driver, because you can't really rely on two of your

championship contenders making mistakes and things like that. How do I see this one unfolding?

I still, you know, if you're being realistic, it's still between the two McLaren drivers.

If you're looking at the next however many races, six races, two sprints, you have to think they're

going to be quickest, at least a few. So for me, like Lando has shown signs of being potentially

having the edge again in pure pace. Oscar of course had one of the worst weekends I can

remember for a championship leader in Baku. So I have to choose one. I don't know what it

would be. Because they both have not won a world championship, I think it will come down to

a big moment where one of them makes a mistake with two little races to go to make up those points.

I think that's how I see it. I think it's all about consistency, particularly with a championship

that now there are so many races on the calendar. Oscar is a great example that he has this

points lead. And I know we've spoken about it, but you know that all the scenarios for

Max to win is that if Max wins every race, but of course, he didn't win in Singapore,

but he is obviously grabbing a lot of really good results. But if Oscar just has that consistency,

he can still win it. So it is about not making mistakes because you have moments like Baku,

for example, and he loses a massive 25 points. But the gap that it is at the moment to lose

five, six, seven points here and there is actually okay for him, even though the pressure will, of

course, start to ramp up if that is seven points next race, seven points next race, seven points

next race. But he just needs to be consistent. He's got a car that can finish easily top three

every race. And if he does that, he can be world champion. But it's how they're going to deal

with that pressure, because of course, the two McLaren drivers have never won a title before.

And that is the thing that sets it apart. We know Max can win world championships, but

you just don't know how those two are going to deliver as it's getting closer and closer.

And you are starting to see those kind of nerves come in and mistakes here and there.

Yeah, I've changed my mind. Max is winning it all. What do you think?

I can't wait to see your tattoo.

There you go. Thank you so much for your question. Okay, next up, here we go.

Oh, first off, my name is Brendan. It's very weird that I watch out every week. And now

you all are right in front of me. No, holograms actually, mate. We're not actually real.

I have a little too. So if McLaren does, because I personally think Max is going to win,

can McLaren survive if they don't win this championship?

Can they survive?

Like the team aspect, because right now it feels like they're so worried about each other

that they're not focused on that Max is constantly closing.

I think I'm not going to be around the bush. If McLaren don't win this championship,

the driver's championship, I think it is the biggest fumble in the history of F1.

Well, it's mathematically by an absolute landslide.

Yeah, because if it happened, it would be the biggest championship overturned almost,

I think, over double what it was before. And even that situation, it was early in

the season that Max turned it around. Whereas this is late, as we mentioned,

you know, the start of the show. Before Zandvoort, no one, even everyone was at zero percent that

Max had a chance. And now, you know, we're talking now that he could win it. So

McLaren had a huge opportunity and I'm still adamant that they should have won the driver's

championship last year. There was a big opportunity there. They had a great car for

most of the season. This would be huge. And of course, as we mentioned,

there's a regulation change. So I know McLaren, you know, they love to win the constructors,

but if they manage to not win the driver's championship for two years in a row and then

we go into a new regulation change and they're not at the front, it would be a massive

missed opportunity doesn't even cover how much of a missed opportunity it would be.

No, exactly. I think that they will survive for sure. They've won the constructors,

which last year they kind of made it out like that was the thing that was the most

important. And we're all sat there like, I'm not sure about that one, chief. I think it's

definitely the drivers. And did you say you have another cheeky question? You look like you do.

Yet Charles McLaren still technically has a chance at the championship too.

Not that's a statement. And I agree. I'm just saying there's hope.

There is zero hope, my friend. Did you see them in sprint qualifying?

They were qualified by a Sauber that has the same engine as them.

There will probably be a lot of lifting and coasting tomorrow.

Lovely stuff. Thank you so much. Right. Next question, please.

Hello, Matt. Hello, Tommy. Hello.

With the United States Grand Prix being extended here in Austin until 2034,

I just wanted to know what you guys think about Kota and how it stacks up against the

other United States Grand Prix in Vegas in Miami. And do you think we're at a good point where

three races is enough in the US versus expanding to more cities?

So Kota, in my opinion, is miles ahead of the other two tracks in terms of the layout,

in terms of just the character. It just feels like a proper racetrack. It's been around for

a lot longer than people sort of remember. Tommy, you're an encyclopedia. Is it like

20 to 12 was the first race? So it's been around quite a while and it's literally a hybrid track

of all the best tracks on the calendar. And they've got a bit of turkey in there from when

that used to be on the calendar. He got Silverstone, etc. So Kota is absolutely one of my

favorite tracks. What was the other question or part of the question?

Is the United States expanding out? Yeah, I think like Miami is an intriguing one. It's

a very different experience. I was there for the first ever one and I was like, this doesn't,

this feels different to what I'm used to seeing. So I prefer the Kota experience for sure.

And look, America has absolutely just taken Formula One in and loved it. So

how many more? I think if they were to expand it, it needs to make sense. Let's not just

chuck it around a landscape and go, here's a track. It has to actually make sense and be good.

Like Las Vegas had a bit of criticism, didn't it, when it was first announced to me like,

oh, surely not. I think it's actually turned out to be quite a cool venue and it's given us

good racing as well. Yeah, literally a cool venue and it's cold and that makes for a great

racing. I mean, not just saying this because I'm here, like Kota is one of the best tracks

on the calendar. It is right up there. I think the fun experience is amazing as well. Austin's

an amazing place. We've got to go last year. The first time I'd been was last year. I absolutely

loved it, loving it again. And it's just an awesome track. It's an awesome experience,

the fact that the whole, it's what you want from Formula One to go to a city and there be

all these amazing things around to feel like you get that experience just walking around and

feeling like Formula One's in town. Everyone's hyped. You see everyone in all their merch on the

streets and stuff and chatting to everyone. That, to me, is what Formula One's about. And that's

what I think that this race does best. Right. That's all we've got time for today. Thank you

everybody for coming along. Thank you for getting involved with the questions. The live

audience here. Thanks so much for joining us at the AT&T garage. And thank you so much to

AT&T for sponsoring today's episode. Tommy, we have to end the podcast with the final thoughts.

Always. Yeah. Thank you everyone for turning out. It's been amazing to be here. Such a

cool venue, as we mentioned, to be able to see all you guys in all the merch. See the

Formula One car here. It's awesome. So love doing these. Love chatting about Formula One.

And thank you all for coming. Thank you so much. It's like an impromptu P1 live show,

wasn't it? Just randomly in Austin. Thank you so much everybody. We'll see you soon. Thank you. Bye-bye.

P1 is a stack production and part of the ACAST creative network.

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